The rest of this question: And what was the process of the cleansing of the temple done? How long did it take? There is no record in Scripture, that I can recall, of a priest dying in the temple or tabernacle. There are no specific instructions for cleansing of the temple in the event of [...][Continue Reading...]

Secular history tells us that the son of Simon Maccabee, John Hyrcanus I, was both king and priest. Simon was murdered in 134 BCE by his son-in-law Ptolemy, and was succeeded as high priest and king by his son John Hyrcanus I. There are no other king/priest combinations recorded in the Bible. In the [...][Continue Reading...]

No, King David was not a priest. The priests were from the tribe of Levi. David was from Judah. When David sent for the ephod to inquire of the LORD, he asked Abiathar the high priest to bring it. Presumably the inquiry was through Abiathar, if the precedent of the instruction given to Joshua, the [...][Continue Reading...]

The Urim and the Thummim were put into the breastpiece of the high priest. Urim means flame or light. Thummim means perfections. The purpose of the Urim and the Thummim was to enable the high priest to inquire for the LORD’s judgment about important situations. It is not known how the process worked, but it [...][Continue Reading...]